National Geographic has given a taste of what human habitat may look like on Mars. Built for National Geographic's new mini-series "Mars", set to air on Nov 13, the home takes a dome like structure.
To plan the "Mars" home, the showrunners consulted several astronomers from the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Stephen Petranek, author of How We'll Live on Mars. After that, the structures were built by Wild Creations.
Special care was taken on the idea that these homes should be easy to build and yet sturdy enough sustain the harsh climate of Mars. In the show, the basic elements of a Mars home are recycled parts of spacecraft and Martian soil known as Rigolith. The home has a double air-lock system at its entrance and 10-feet thick walls.
According to Daily Mail, it also has a transparent viewing dome, large transmitters and wing like structures along the sides for stability. The dome design is inspired by Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes.
It is constructed in Valles Marineris which can be termed as "the Grand Canyon of Mars." The system of canyons run along the surface of Mars and is located east of the Tharsis region. It's stretched across 4,000km in length and 200km in width and is considered as one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.
The home will be open for public at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London from November 10 to 16. The report further reveals that the show will feature the first Mars colony called Olympus Town.
The name is coined from the fact that it will be situated in the foothills of Olympus Mons, the planet's tallest mountain, which is also a shield volcano. When calculating the above sea level height, Olympus Mons stands about two and a half times as tall as Mt. Everest, with a height of 22 km or 72,000 ft.
See the trailer of MARS here.
